The perfect tense: a complete example

On the previous page, we mentioned that the perfect tense in French
generally carries the meaning of I have ...ed or I ...ed, and that
it is generally formed as follows:

perfect tense = present tense of avoir + past participle

We mentioned that there are a few complications. But for now, let's look at
a worked example of the general formula we've just mentioned.

Present tense of avoir

Recall that the present tense of avoir is as follows:

Present tense of avoir

Person

Form of avoir

English translation

1st singular (I)

j'ai ...

I've ...

2nd singular (you)

tu as ...

you've ...

3rd singular (he/she)

il/elle a ...

he's/she's ...

1st plural (we)

nous avons ...

we have ...

2nd plural (you)

vous avez ...

you have ...

3rd plural (they)

ils/elles ont ...

they've ...

Past participle

The past participle is the equivalent form to words ending in
-en or -ed in English: eaten, walked, climbed,
broken etc.
In English, there is a regular pattern: most verbs have their past participles
ending in -ed. But there are some irregularities (sing has sung,
not singed).

In French, there is a comparable situation: a regular rule, for regualr
-er verbs, plus some other minor rules and irregularities.
For now, we'll concentrate on the regular rule:

The past participle of a regular -er verb is formed by
replacing -er with -é.

So that gives past participles such as the following:

Past participles of some regular French verbs

French verb

Past participle

English meaning

manger(to eat)

mangé

eaten

travailler(to work)

travaillé

worked

marcher(to walk)

marché

walked

regarder(to watch)

regardé

watched

Note that the past participle generally sounds the same as the infinitive for
regular -er verbs.

Example perfect tense forms

Now, to make the perfect tense, we need to combine entries from the previous two tables.

Perfect tense forms

What we want to say

Verb

Form of avoir

Past participle

Perfect tense form

I've eaten

mangerto eat

j'ai ...I've ...

mangé

j'ai mangéI've eaten

you've worked(talking to single friend)

travaillerto work

tu as ...you've ...

travaillé

tu as travailléyou've worked

he's watched TV

regarder(to watch)

il a ...he's ...

regardé

il a regardé la téléhe's watched TV

What to read next

Once you're happy with forming the perfect tense of -er verbs,
here are some other things to look at: